grey616 - Slashdot User

Neal Stephenson Takes Blame For Innovation Failure 448

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday April 19, 2012 @08:08PM from the who's-to-blame dept.

itwbennett writes "Neal Stephenson is shouldering some of the blame for discouraging budding scientists and engineers, saying in a interview that perhaps the dark turn science fiction has taken is 'discouraging budding scientists and engineers.' For his part, Stephenson has vowed to be more optimistic. From the article: 'Speaking before a packed lecture theater at MIT yesterday, Neal Stephenson worried that the gloomy outlook prevalent in modern science fiction may be undermining the genre's ability to inspire engineers and scientists. Describing himself as a "pessimist trying to turn himself into an optimist," and acknowledging that some of his own work has contributed to the dystopian trend, he added "if every depiction of the future is grim...then it doesn't create much of an incentive to building the future."'"

Herschel Spectroscopy of Future Supernova 21

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 28, 2009 @01:50PM from the that's-a-big-star dept.

davecl writes "ESA's Herschel Space Telescope has released its first spectroscopic results. These include observations of VYCMa, a star 50 times as massive as the sun and soon to become a supernova, as well as a nearby galaxy, more distant colliding starburst galaxies and a comet in our own solar system. The spectra show more lines than have ever been seen in these objects in the far-infrared and will allow astronomers to work out the detailed chemistry and physics behind star and planet formation as well as the last stages of stellar evolution before VYCMa's eventual collapse into a supernova. More coverage is available at the Herschel Mission Blog, which I run."

How Demigod's Networking Problems Were Fixed 65

Posted by Soulskill on Sunday June 07, 2009 @07:02AM from the crunch-time dept.

The launch of Demigod was troubled by piracy and networking difficulties, which publisher Stardock worked quickly to correct. They've now released a documentary that gives a detailed look behind the scenes of diagnosing and fixing those problems. It includes meetings, interviews with the devs, and part of the bug-tracking process during a frenzied 108-hour work week.

Race Car Made With Veggies And Powered By Chocolate 83

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday April 23, 2009 @02:54PM from the mad-lib-motors dept.

IS4110 writes "A new racing car made with potatoes and carrots and powered with chocolate waste has been developed by the Innovative Manufacturing Research Centre of the University of Warwicks in the UK. The university's vehicle, called WorldFirst F3 project, has a steering wheel made of curran, a material derived from carrots, that is expected to replace glass fiber and carbon fiber. It also has a racing seat made of SoyFoam, a soybean oil-based, flexible foam material. Wing mirrors incorporate materials derived from potato starch, a bib made from flax fiber, and lubricants based on plant oils."

Soaring, Cryptography, and Nuclear Weapons 303

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday October 21, 2008 @03:59PM from the we-can-get-there-from-here dept.

Martin Hellman sends in a pointer to his essay that uses analogies from cryptography and the sport of soaring in an attempt to draw people in to thinking about the risks of nuclear weapons. Quoting: "... I did a preliminary risk analysis which indicates that relying on nuclear weapons for our security is thousands of times more dangerous than having a nuclear power plant built next to your home." Hellman is best known as co-inventor (with Diffie and Merkle) of public key cryptography, and has worked for over twenty-five years to reduce the threat posed by nuclear weapons. He is also a glider pilot with over 2,600 logged hours. Hellman adds, "Readers needing a break can go to some photos of the Sierra Nevada mountains taken from my glider."

Comment Beta Experience (Score 2, Insightful) 206

by grey616 on Friday May 17, 2002 @11:02PM (#3541205) Attached to: Warcraft III: The Single Player Experience

From my experience as a (very lucky) beta tester, I feel the game will be awesome. After trying the multiplayer, I'm actually looking forward to the single player campaign, something I haven't done since Dune II. As for the bnetd issue, I feel that misplaced or misguided is a much better description then 'evil' of Blizzard's/Vivendi's actions. From Blizzard's point of view a week into the public beta, there were already more PIRATED versions of a BETA of its product then most companies get with a final. So acting to protect their investments, they attacked the first target they thought was responsible, none of this 'they are evil anti open source' bullshit.

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